"Leaderless organizations are a complete illusion"
12/20/2022
The idea of the so-called leaderless organization has become increasingly popular. Specifically social media, such as LinkedIn, provide more and more stories with successful examples of just that.
The question is, however, whether it can be concluded that - based on these individual examples - creating a leaderless organization is the path to success for any modern company. According to Nicolai Foss, the answer is no. Companies need leaders and management.
Nicolaj J. Foss recently published the book 'Why Managers Matter: The Perils of the Bossless Company' based on research conducted in collaboration with Peter Klein, professor of entrepreneurship and Chair of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Corporate Innovation at Baylor University. The research clearly shows that if formal hierarchies are abolished, informal hierarchies will usually arise. Those informal hierarchies will then be much more difficult to navigate for employees due to their lower transparency.
You can read the entire article from Lederstof.dk in Danish here.
The page was last edited by: CBS Leadership Centre // 01/25/2024